Last night, the Sixers shot only 38.4 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from the line although they outrebounded the Knicks by 16 (51 to 35).  Meanwhile, Lou Williams sat the game out with lower back spasms.

In fact, the team’s three top scorers (Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young and Elton Brand) that were active for this game shot only 10-for-38, or 26.3 percent.

“They spread out the court and we got a lot of rebounds, a lot of offensive rebounds,” said Elton Brand. “We didn’t hit any shots. We got good looks. Guys that took the shots just couldn’t knock them down. We played pretty good defense.”

Eddie Jordan said of Iguodala’s 5-of-22 performance, “He played a ton of minutes the last two nights, a ton.  He does everything for us out there. . . . I mean, come on, he’s human, his shot – anybody’s shot – would look a little weary.”

The Sixers have lost five consecutive games, ten of their last eleven and have compiled a post-All Star break record of 4-12.

Aside from some of the high-profile names mentioned as a replacement for Jordan, such as Jeff Van Gundy, Avery Johnson and Jay Wright, Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News lists some assistant-coaching names that should get a look.  One of the names that Jasner mentions is San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer, about whom Spurs coach Greg Popovich has said that he “would make a fine coach in the NBA,without a doubt.”

Next up for the Sixers: New Jersey at home on Wednesday and the Knicks again at MSG on Friday.

Are you serious?

He argues that the contracts of guys like Samuel Dalembert, Jason Kapono and Willie Green will off the books after next season, which would give the team much more flexibility to make off-season moves and build for the future.

Cooney goes on to write, “If you let Jordan stay and you suffer through another dismal season, what’s the worst that can happen? Another high draft spot? An outside shot at a top-three pick? Not a bad consolation prize.”

Perhaps.

But the real question is whether or not the Sixers should fire coach Eddie Jordan now or wait until the season ends.

Meanwhile Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that former Sixers coach Larry Brown advised the front office to wait on firing Jordan through the end of the season and play the younger players, but that Jordan will be gone either way before next season.

However, Cooney’s colleague at the Daily News, John Smallwood, thinks the Sixers should fire Jordan now.

Jordan has said he’s not interested in evaluating younger players but rather winning games.  Winning games, at this point, is not what the team needs.  The Sixers currently have the best record of six teams that all have between 21-23 wins.  There are only three teams with fewer than 21 wins: New Jersey (seven), Minnesota (14) and Golden State (17).  The difference between having the fourth pick and the ninth pick is an 11.9 percent chance of getting the top pick (and Kentucky guard John Wall) versus a 1.7 percent chance, respectively.

Granted nobody expected the Sixers to be an elite team heading into the season.  And there’s no doubt that the loss of Andre Miller, who was arguably the team’s most valuable player, hurt a lot.  But with a healthy (for the most part) Elton Brand, Jordan has grossly under-achieved as coach of this team.  Worse, he’s implemented a system that doesn’t fit with this team’s strengths.

The Sixers should bring in a defensive-minded coach sooner rather than later.  And then do whatever it takes to hire Jeff Van Gundy for next season.

Meanwhile, Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 32 points.

However, Marreese Speights left the game with a sprained knee and there’s no timetable for his return.

When it rains, it pours.  Not only is Allen Iverson dealing with the undisclosed illness of his 4-year old daughter and the divorce  for which his wife Tawanna has filed, but he also could “either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away” if he doesn’t get help soon, according to Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Sixers moved up two spots to 21st in the latest ESPN NBA Power Rankings by Marc Stein.

Jason Kapono said of his lack of playing time, “It’s been the toughest stretch for me personally since my first year.  It’s basically not really playing on a consistent level. It’s a challenge, but it’s the NBA. That’s how it goes. Sometimes it may not be fair and you may not think it’s right, but it is what it is. You show up to practice every day with a positive attitude, try to get your work done and hope for the best. The last couple of months, I’ve been the odd man out.”

From now until March 19th, the Sixers play five games (out of seven) against teams with a losing record including two games against the Knicks (21-41) and one against the Pacers (20-43).  From March 20th through the end of the season, the Sixers play only two games (out of 13) against opponents with a losing record – Charlotte (30-31) and Detroit (22-41).

Eight teams have a worse record than the Sixers, who are 23-39: Nets (7-55), Timberwolves (14-49), Warriors (17-45), Pacers (20-43), Kings (21-42), Knicks (21-41), Wizards (21-39) and Pistons (22-41).

Per Howard Eskin (via Liberty Ballers), Eddie Jordan won’t be back next season.  His replacement?  Jay Wright, Jeff Van Gundy, Doug Collins or Avery Johnson.  Like Liberty Ballers, I agree that Van Gundy would be the best option as he points out that a JVG-coached team has finished in the top eight defensively in 10 of his 11 seasons.

Allen Iverson, who has missed nine of the Sixers’ past 12 games, will not return to the team this season as he deals with his four-year-old daughter’s undisclosed illness.

“After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very much,” 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski said in a statement on Tuesday.

Of course, the health of his daughter is much more important than the basketball games or his basketball career.

But will Iverson return to the NBA next year or ever?

According to Henry Abbott from the True Hoop blog, the three “obstacles” to Iverson’s return are his reluctance to come off the bench, the abuse his body has taken due to his reckless abandon with which he played and his popularity, or more precisely, the (potential negative) influence he could have on a team’s younger players due to his popularity.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Ric Bucher believes that Iverson is done for his career.

If Bucher is right, and I think he is, the only consolation is that Iverson was able to end his career as a Sixer even if his production and health were not what Sixer fans might have expected.  Or, at least, not how they would like to remember him.  But if Iverson is done, he will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in five years.

In the February 24th update of their 2010 NBA Mock Draft, DraftExpress.com has the Sixers selecting Patrick Patterson of Kentucky with the ninth overall pick.

Samuel Dalembert, who led the Sixers in scoring last night with 24 points, has won the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for January.

With a double-double last night, Dalembert, who also had 11 rebounds, ended a double-digit scoring drought of nine games and he had his first double-double since February 3rd.

Over the past eight games, Lou Williams is averaging 14.2 points per game (including three games with 20+ points) and is shooting 53.4 percent from the field (47 of 88).

Williams attributes his recent production to his increase in minutes: “It’s the actual minutes.  In order to be at a high production rate, you have to be in there.”

But as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News writes, “… it just seems obvious that due to his size (6-1) and scoring abilities, he is much more suited to providing that offensive spark off the bench rather than trying to be a starter at the point.”

Speaking of an increase in minutes, Rodney Carney, who has received 20+ minutes of playing time in each of the three past games, says: “It’s easier knowing that I’m going to get the minutes now. When we had a full team, it was kind of hard because the minutes were sporadic with the rotation. Playing time now is kind of definite. It’s a little more comforting.”

Here are some details about promotions at Sixer games in March.

Regardless of what people think about Allen Iverson, he has his priorities straight when it comes to his family, as Chris Tomasson of FanHouse points out.

But Iverson, who has missed the five games before the All-Star break and the All-Star game itself, will take an “indefinite” leave from the team due to the health of his daughter.  And Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes, “there’s a strong movement within the organization to permanently break ties with him.”

“At this time, we feel that is in the best interest of the Sixers, Allen and his family that he be allowed to deal with a very serious issue that is far greater than the game of basketball,” said general manager Ed Stefanski.

Granted, Iverson is no longer the player he once was, as Stephen A. Smith admits.  He writes, “Iverson’s diminished quickness tells a story, along with his inability to get his shot off the way he once did. That, combined with his inability to move without the ball as adroitly, transformed him from a possible asset into a liability.”

One thing is for sure — Iverson sells tickets.

DepressedFan.com shows a game-by-game attendance of Sixers’ games before and after AI and accounts for those big-time players that would be a draw to arrive at a “conservative” estimate of the extra fans in the seats due to Iverson’s presence by writing,  “If those 38,886 extra fans spent an average of $17 in their visits to the Wach, the Sixers made money off Iverson’s $650,000 contract.”

Aside from putting asses in the seats to watch a product that almost nobody wanted to see before his return, there was no drama with teammates, coaches, about playing time, etc.

“He’s a great person,” [forward Elton] Brand said. “You hear rumors, and you don’t know what’s going on. But he’s very personable, a very good guy. He was never late for anything, and he worked his butt off every day.”

Iverson currently ranks 17th all-time in scoring with 24,368 points and 26.7 points per game ranks 6th all-time.

But in his 25 games with the Sixers, Iverson averaged only 13.9 points per game.  In the three games Iverson played since the break, however, Iverson has scored only 24 total points on 25-percent shooting (7-for-28).

While the health of his daughter has certainly affected his recent performance on the court, the most important thing is that he spends time with his daughter and family and she has a speedy and full recovery.

That’s not an easy way to bounce back from their biggest loss (32 points) of the season and two blowouts of 27 and 32 points in their past three games.

Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the next seven games will likely determine coach Eddie Jordan’s fate as the Sixers are currently 13 games under .500 and 6.5 games behind the Bobcats for the eighth and final playoff seed.  Missing the playoffs, or more accurately, getting a higher draft pick isn’t a bad thing, but the Sixers have greatly underachieved this season.  With the Sixers’ roster essentially unchanged after the trade deadline, most of the accountability falls to Jordan.

One of the players the Sixers inquired about was Tracy McGrady, who made his debut with the Knicks last night and scored 26 points.

According to an SI poll of NBA players, TMac was the league’s most over-rated player followed by Indiana’s Danny Granger.  Andre Iguodala (and five other players including LeBron James) were next with three percent each of the votes.

Jordan said of rookie Jrue Holiday’s performance against the Spurs on Friday, “We just liked his defense throughout the game.”

Instead of shipping Andre Iguodala (and others) to Phoenix or Houston, the Sixers sent Royal Ivey, Primoz Brezec and a second-round draft pick to Milwaukee.  In return, the Sixers get shooter Jodie Meeks, the 6′4″ rookie from Kentucky, and center Francisco Elson, per Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

By adding Meeks, who is under contract for two more years, the Sixers add an additional shooter to their roster.  But the Sixers traded for Jason Kapono in the off-season and the career 45% shooter from behind the arc has played only six total games in January and February.  Nonetheless the Sixers have moderately improved their three-point shooting stats from 2009, when they ranked last in percentage made (31.8%) and second-to-last in three-pointers made (4.2 per game).

Although Meeks is only shooting 28% from three-point range this season, he was one of the best shooters in the 2009 NBA Draft class.  Here is what was written about his efficiency by DraftExpress.com:

“Jodie Meeks’ situational statistics are pretty impressive to say the least, as he not only was a very high usage player at Kentucky, but also was extremely efficient at that.  Meeks ranks third in possessions used per game at 21.1, and second in overall efficiency with 1.06 PPP. Meeks’ catch and shoot ability looks a lot like [Marcus] Thornton’s, only he takes more open shots and forces less. He can hit tough shots, but is not as deadly as you might think when left open, at just 1.21 PPP. Unlike Thornton, Meeks is quite a shooter off the dribble, scoring .99 PPP on 4.7 pull up jumpers per game. His 1.11 PPP in spot up situations is above average, an indication that his ability to hit the three somewhat compensates for his inefficient in other areas.”

For a third year in a row, the Sixers will have only one pick in the draft — their first-rounder.  Considering their 20-33 record, their second-round pick should be reasonably high.  As it stands it would be the ninth pick in the second round.  Meeks was selected with the 11th pick in the second round (41st overall) by the Bucks.

And our chances of getting another Kentucky guard (John Wall) remain slim-to-none.

During a second-quarter stretch, the Sixers went 8:19 between their first and second field goal and only shot 26.3% (5-for-19) in the quarter.  They also the Heat to score 17 straight points during a stretch in the third quarter.  Only their 31-point loss to the Celtics was a bigger blowout this season.

Only two Sixers scored in double-digits yesterday.  Thaddeus Young had 16 points off the bench and Andre Iguodala had 11 points.

Willie Green left the game and has a sprained shoulder.

Allen Iverson, who had missed the previous five games plus the All-Star game, returned and said, “It was tough to leave her and my wife and kids.  But I do have a commitment and an obligation to be with my team and to do my job. But it is rough. I think this is the only thing I do in life where for a couple hours during the game I don’t think about nothing but [basketball].”

The NBA trade deadline is 3 p.m. Thursday and GM Ed Stefanski says, “If we send anybody out, we want to bring back value . . .  We’re very active, and a lot of teams are looking for us to do financial deals, to send back expiring contracts – we want to improve the product on the court.”

Apparently, the Sixers are no longer involved in the discussions involving Tracy McGrady and his expiring contract as it will come down to the Knicks or Bulls.

Over the weekend, Fanball put together a team-by-team (by division) look at team MVP, biggest fantasy surprise and disappointment in the first half as well as expectations for the second half.  Here is my contribution for the Sixers as well as my colleagues’ thoughts on the remaining teams in the Atlantic Division.

Follow us on Twitter @SixersCourt.

Let’s start with Andre Iguodala.

Iggy currently leads the Sixers in scoring, assists and steals per game and is second on the team to center Samuel Dalembert in rebounding. Cleveland’s LeBron James is the only other player in the league to currently average 17+ points, 6+ rebounds and 5+ assists per game.

Granted, his scoring is down a couple of points (17.1 ppg) compared with the past three seasons (18.2, 19.9 and 18.8 ppg, respectively) and he’s shooting a career-low 42.5% from the field, but he’s also averaging career highs in rebounds (7.0 rpg), assists (5.7 apg) and 3-pointers made (1.3 per game).

Whether or not he’s overpaid in the real NBA (and he is), Iguodala has consistently posted elite across-the-board numbers for fantasy owners.  His real NBA salary, however, is the reason he’s the subject of persistent trade rumors involving different teams, such as Phoenix and Houston.

If AI2 lands in Houston in a deal involving Tracy McGrady, Iguodala’s numbers could see a slight uptick as he’d be counted on to provide a larger share of the offense compared to what is expected from him in Philadelphia. Playing with Steve Nash in Phoenix, however, could get him more highlight-reel dunks but perhaps slightly lesser overall numbers as he wouldn’t be as much of a focal point in the offense.

The NBA trade deadline is February 18th and if he’s not dealt, I would expect it to help Iguodala’s psyche.  Regardless of what he says publicly, it’s hard to imagine a player to enjoy being the subject of trade talks even if it could mean getting out of Philly.  And, in the past couple of seasons, Iguodala has averaged a couple of points more post All-Star break than he did pre All-Star break. In 2008, he averaged 17.8 ppg before the break. After the break, his scoring jumped to 20.4 ppg.

With the Sixers winning five of six heading into the break, it’s likely that GM Ed Stefanski will be more patient with this squad and be less likely to pull the trigger on a deal. Iggy is one of few Sixers that has found consistent minutes night in and night out as Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams haven’t been able to say the same.  With that said, he should put up numbers consistent with his first half (or slightly better) and remain an elite fantasy option.

Second-half: Stock up (minus)